About us

“If only we could have duplicated Caroline for every service: stress levels would have been much lower!”

About us

“If only we could have duplicated Caroline for every service: stress levels would have been much lower!”

Our story

Caroline studied Art & Design throughout her academic life, from early school days through to being a Graphic and Product Design graduate from the University of Ulster.

Following graduation, Caroline secured a position with a start-up kitchen design company. Here Caroline not only learned about the industry, but brought a design and creative aspect to the sector. As she grew, so too did her reputation allowing her to work on a number of highly prestigious projects or high profile clients.

Having spent 15 years in the kitchen design space, Caroline felt it was now time to feed her ambition by starting her own company.

It’s all in the name…

When Caroline decided to create her own brand in 2012, she wanted the name to mean something, it needed to say something about her. Important to her decision was her experience, her design background and her role model.

Growing up, Caroline looked up to one person in particular – her grandfather – Pop (John McFadden). He instilled his core values in Caroline; honesty, compassion and respect. A craftsman and musician, Pop passed his creativity to one of his sons – a well-known local artist, and on through to Caroline.

Building Pop into a name relevant to the kitchen industry led to Poplar – an often used material for handcrafted kitchen furniture. The rest of the name is self-evident, design is what Caroline is all about and by appending her name, gave credibility and familiarity to the company.

Furthermore, the leaf logo is a representation of the Carolina Poplar leaf – Populus canadensis.

What we stand for…

At Poplar design we believe in core values that help guide us in our project delivery and customer success.

Quality – each material and supplier we use on our projects have been carefully selected on the basis of quality and craftsmanship. The woods and finishes we use.

Attention to detail – every aspect of our designs has been deliberately thought out. Aspects such as user experience, lighting and ergonomics are at the fore of our design process, making sure we have everything covered.

Excellence – we only use design professionals in our creative team, investing in their development and training to ensure we are equipped with the skills to keep our concepts state of the art.

Customer focus – we understand that our clients are the lynchpin of our business and we are extremely grateful of their support. To repay them we keep them at the centre of our process, listen to their requirements and deliver their dream.